The Three Children of Briar and Sandry
by Katherine-Magnolia
Summary: Briar and Sandry are married; with three children. Tristan, Numair and Lissien. But Tristan is different... Daja's children and the rest of Trisana's are coming soon! COMPLETED and over. The sequel is The Children of the Four, it'll be longer I promise.
1. Tristan, Numair and Lissien

"I'm not touching that, that thing," the red-haired girl said indignantly. "It's dirty and slimy."  
  
The young man kneeling in the dirt sighed and looked up at her. "Come on now Tris," he wheedled. "Mom and Dad will be so much happier if you only would help me with this gardening!"  
  
"They would not," the girl he had called Tris said. "And my name is Tristan."  
  
"But you're so much like Aunt Trisana that Tris fits you like a glove," he said with a grin on his face. "Your magic is even similar to hers."  
  
Tristan brushed back her hair and said nothing. But her brother was right. Tristan's magic was nearly identical to Trisana Chandler's. Her hair was the same red and her eyes were the same gray. But her skin was darker, a golden-brown color that told anyone who looked closely enough who her father was.  
  
"Well you're so much like father that your name should be Briar," she shot back.  
  
The boy grinned up at him and said, "I know, isn't it great?" He sighed as he continued to dig in the dirt and said, "But still, they name me Numair. Horrible name."  
  
"I think your name is just fine," Tristan said. "It fits you well enough, if you've known you forever."  
  
"Mother will catch you good if she hears you talking like that," Numair said. He brushed a dirty hand through his curly brown hair, his gray-green eyes shining. "She'll think you were hanging out with the street rats again."  
  
"She'll get me good if she knows I'm out here and not inside with that wretched nurse," Tristan responded. "Luckily Lissien is in there, keeping the old hag occupied while I stay out here and get some fresh air."  
  
Numair shrugged and went back to his garden. A few minutes later however a girl who had night black hair ran into the garden. "Mother is coming Tris," she gasped out. "Numair get those weeds gone, father's coming to inspect your work."  
  
Then she collapsed on the ground, breathing hard. But when a sharp voice called out, "Tristan! Lissien!" she sat up quickly and ran back the way she had come. Her fair skin had been covered with dirt and her cornflower blue eyes were nervous.  
  
Tristan stood and followed her younger sister slower. At the top of the stairway she found her mother, none other then Lady Sandrilene fa Toren. And her father, Briar Moss. "Boy are we in trouble," she muttered when her mother's eyes fell on her and her dirty dress.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~* If you haven't guessed already these are the three children of Briar Moss and Sandry. It has a slow start but will get much better as it goes on, I swear that it will. 


	2. Tristan

((Yes those are names from the other series. But I decided to use them and Tristan is the name of a girl I know and it fits for this girl because everyone calls her Tris all the time as it is.))  
  
Tristan and Lissien both prepared themselves for the lecture that they knew was forthcoming. It would be worse for Tristan because she was older and was always getting in a mess. Lissien was the favored child, the baby and because she was so much like their mother.  
  
"Explain why you are out here instead of inside with the nurse learning about how to be a lady and how to sew?" Sandry asked, her arms folded across her chest.  
  
"Because I finished my sewing and I was coming to tell Tris that you were.oops," Lissien slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes, so much like Sandry's own, wide.  
  
Sandry turned to Tristan. "Why are you out here? I know that you didn't complete your sewing, you never do."  
  
Tristan looked at the ground, her eyes flashing. "Because I wanted to be out here in the breeze rather then in that stuffy room poking a dumb needle and thread through some cloth. It's useless," her voice was dry.  
  
"Useless?" Sandry echoed. "Thread is not useless Tristan. You'd understand that better if you weren't so stubborn and if you had the right kind of magic."  
  
Tristan's head flew up, her eyes wide and her face pale. That remark had hurt her more then if her mother and stabbed a knife into her arm. She had always known that Sandry was disappointed that her eldest daughter didn't have either thread magic or plant magic, but she had never said it. "The right magic," Tristan repeated. "That's right mother, the right kind. I'm just useless, right? My magic is a joke, nothing like yours or fathers. You've always wished that I was just like Lissien haven't you? Or at least like Numair. Useless Tristan."  
  
Sandry's eyes were wider then Lissien's and the expression on her face was regretful. "Tristan," she began. "I didn't mean to say that."  
  
"I know you didn't mean to say it," Tristan echoed. "But you think it every day. I know you do, you hate my magic and always have. It's because Aunt Trisana nearly got father and you almost lost him, isn't it?"  
  
Sandry stepped up to Tristan and slapped her. "Be respectful to your mother!" she said. "Go to your room before you get yourself in any more trouble."  
  
Tristan bowed low to her mother and then her father. "Yes Lady Sandrilene I will do that. See you when you allow me to come back down." She turned and ran away, leaving her mother, father and sister to talk about what they should do this time. 


	3. Tristan's Anger

"Someday they'll appreciate me," Tristan sobbed as she sat on her windowsill, her leg dangling over the side. Below her she could see Numair and their father working in the garden. Briar and Numair always worked together whenever Briar was home. They had one of the best gardens on the Pebble Sea and planned to keep it that way.  
  
Tristan of course had no projects that she worked on with her father or mother. Both tended to steer away from her a lot of the time, because she was so different from them and her siblings.  
  
She was much more like Trisana the weather-witch. She looked and acted like her and had the same magic, but the facts still remained the same. She was the child of Sandry and Briar, whether or not she wished to be.  
  
And she did not wish to be.  
  
What Sandry had said to her only a few moments ago had burrowed under Tristan's skin like sharp barbs and stuck there. It was like the time that Tristan had gotten herself stuck in a thorn patch and come out with the sharp little things stuck all over her. Only these ones couldn't be pulled out.  
  
"I did it!" a triumphant voice floated up to Tristan's ears. She knew that it was coming from her sister in her sewing room, three floors down and on the other side of the palace. Tristan had the same ability that her parents had picked up from Trisana; she could hear things from far away.  
  
"Good job Lissien," Sandry's voice, thrilled, came to Tristan's ears. "I'm so glad that you've finally learned how to bring light to the thread you're working. It is a very good accomplishment. And you finished that stitch perfectly."  
  
The voice went on and on, praising how well Lissien was coming along, but Tristan shut it out by burying her face in her hands. "Why me?" she asked. "Why did I have to have the weather magic?"  
  
Her anger began to rage and a strong wind burst up out of nowhere. It whirled through the palace courtyard, tearing up more then one sapling from the ground. Tristan didn't even notice, she was so mad that she couldn't control it.  
  
Numair jumped up from the ground, his hair blowing all over the place. His gray-green eyes were flashing as he looked up to where he knew Tristan was sitting. "Tristan!" he yelled. "Tristan cut it out!"  
  
But his sister couldn't hear him, she had been drawn into her anger and the wind was getting worse. The bright blue sky had been replaced by broiling black clouds. Briar stood up and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Damn," he swore when he saw the clouds approaching. "She's lost herself."  
  
Numair looked up at him, his eyes wide. "I've never heard that term before," he remarked. "What's it mean?"  
  
"It happened to Tris before," Briar mumbled. "She brought up the most horrible storm that I've ever seen. She was mad and sad at the same time and that storm left a mark."  
  
"What was she so mad about?" Numair asked.  
  
Briar looked away and then looked back to his son. "You're too young to understand," he mumbled. Then he began to drag Numair. "Come on, we need to get some help from a real weather-witch before this storm tears the palace down around our ears."  
  
Up in Lissien's sewing room Sandry was beginning to curse. "Your sister is bringing up a storm that'll make the storm we had three years ago look like a gentle summer's rain," she told a frightened Lissien.  
  
"I didn't know that you knew those words, mother," Lissien said, her eyes wide in awe and fright. "I've only heard street rats use them."  
  
Sandry grinned a one-sided smile and said, "Well I married your father, didn't I? He's where I got all of my magic from. Now come on, let's go see if we can find him and your brother before this storm gets way out of hand."  
  
((There's chapter three for you!)) 


	4. Get Trisana

((That last time Sandry speaks in the last one I meant language instead of magic. Sorry about that mistake.))  
  
Briar cursed loudly as he ducked a pot that flew down the stairs at him. He yanked Numair off to the side and said, "Listen Numair, I need you to go and find Trisana Chandler. You know her, aunt Tris. Find her quick and bring her back. She may be the only one who can stop your sister from this destruction."  
  
Numair didn't move so Briar shoved him roughly. "Go boy!" he yelled. Numair nodded and ran back off down the stairs as fast as he could.  
  
Briar ran his fingers through his cropped black hair, took a deep breath and started back up the stairs. "Damn girl," he muttered as he went. When another pot came hurtling at him he ducked and cursed when it caught his should.  
  
A head poked out of a door just above his head and the cornflower blue eyes were merry. "Mother will skin you if she hears such words," Lissien said in a taunting voice.  
  
Briar grinned at her and came in the door. "Your mother uses the same exact words when she's mad Lissien," he told her. He closed and bolted the door behind him. "At least there is no wind in here."  
  
Lissien pointed at Sandry, who sat on the floor, her eyes blank. "Mother's doing that. She's keeping the storm out. Otherwise it'd be horrible to see, she said that it would be anyways."  
  
Briar shook his head at his daughter. She always talked far too fast and half the time it made no sense. "Your brother is going to fetch Aunt Tris so she can talk some sense into Tristan, before she takes the place down around our ears."  
  
"Oh good," Lissien said with a sigh. "Because mother is starting to lose her grip." She pointed at the window and Briar saw that the tapestry over it was beginning to flap in the wind. He looked out the window and saw that the storm was getting worse, the sky was blacker then night and the rain was pounding the ground.  
  
"Mila of the Grain," he swore, "Keep us safe from untrained weather- witches!"  
  
~~~***~~~***~~~***  
  
Numair was soaked by the time he found Trisana's house. He knocked hard on the door. "Aunt Tris!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Trisana open the door, it's me Numair! Come on!!"  
  
The door swung open and Numair felt himself pulled inside. "You shouldn't be out in that!" the person who had pulled him inside hissed. "It is a very strong storm and could harm you badly."  
  
Numair caught his breath and watched the person as he did. She wasn't too tall or too skinny, but she was no longer fat. She was pale with red hair and sharp gray eyes. She looked exactly like his sister, minus the pale skin. "Aunt Tris," he said. "Tristan started this up, she's doing it!"  
  
Trisana Chandler turned pale when he said that. "Little Tristan?" she asked, her voice incredulous. "Impossible! She'd have to be extremely mad to get a fourth of this storm up, she isn't strong enough!"  
  
"Oh you want to bet?" Numair said with a crooked grin. "She's doing it all right and father told me to get you, else she'd flood the city and destroy our home!"  
  
Trisana muttered angrily as she pulled a shawl over her head. She turned to a girl who had just appeared, one with blond hair and brown eyes, and said, "Jasmine, make sure your siblings behave. I'll be back soon." Then she turned and ushered Numair out the door.  
  
The wind howled and the rain beat on them. Numair yelped when the rain stung his neck and Tris winced when she got her shawl blown away. Finally she said, "That is enough!" Numair felt a force whirl and soon he was within a bubble that kept the rain and wind out, it also moved with them.  
  
"I'd love to have weather magic," he said.  
  
"Oh sure," Tris said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So you could do this?" She waved her arm around and Numair smiled sheepishly.  
  
"I didn't mean it that way," he said. "I meant, I meant."  
  
Tris smiled and slung an arm over Numair's shoulders. She had changed very much in the past years. She was no longer so cold, and she loved all of Briar and Sandry's children as much as her own. "Don't worry lad," she told him. "I know what you meant. Now let's hurry."  
  
((Hope you all like it! Please review for me, please, please, please? Any ideas for names for Tris's other children and for Daja's? I'll take all ideas, may not use em, but hey.)) 


	5. The Truth

((Storm-mage-Who's a Mary-Sue in this story??!! I didn't make anyone of them perfect! Thanks to those who gave me name-ideas. I'm going to use a few of them, but I'll still accept more for some more variety! Thanks for all the reviews.))  
  
"Briar!" Trisana called as she walked calmly up the steps. Numair was behind her, cursing whenever a piece of something slipped through the weather-witches barrier and caught him. "Stop that swearing," Tris told him absently. "You sound like your father."  
  
Numair grinned broadly. "Thank you!" he said as they slipped through the door that Lissien had just opened for them  
  
"Aunt Tris!" Lissien said happily as she hugged her. "It's been far too long! You need to stop by the castle more often. That way you could help Tristan learn how to control her magic. Did you know that she's the one who called this up? I think she did it because of what mother said. Has Numair told you what; umph!" Numair sighed and placed his hand over his sister's mouth.  
  
"Sorry about that Aunt Tris," he said. "She sometimes just goes off like that."  
  
"It's okay Numair," Tris told him, smiling. "I grew up with a girl like that."  
  
Briar stood up and walked over to Trisana with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Thanks for coming Tris," he said in a quiet voice. "Lissien will take you to where Tristan is.wrecking the world." Then he turned to place his hands on Sandry's shoulders.  
  
Tris sighed and for a moment Numair could have sworn that he glimpsed sadness and love in the red-head's eyes. "Come on Aunt Tris," he said, letting go of Lissien. "Lissien will show you the way."  
  
Trisana said, "All right. Come on Lissien, let's stop your sister."  
  
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**  
  
Tristan was sitting by the window, tears streaming down her face. The storm raged about her. She lifted her arms and welcomed the wind and the rain. She was half-lost among her feelings. The hate, even guilt, consumed her and made her even more mad then she had been.  
  
"Mother hates me!" she screamed to the storm. A bolt of lightning slashed out of the clouds and struck near a window. Tristan could hear multiple screams, all of them very familiar. One of them was Sandry's. "Did I hurt her?" Tristan wondered and the storm began to calm.  
  
But then she yelled, "Good! She deserves it for all the times that she hurt me!" The storm grew even worse. Tristan watched as a giant tree uprooted and fell over. Father and Numair would be very upset with her, but who cared? She sure didn't.  
  
"Tristan!" The call came from behind her. She half-heard it so she turned. She thought for a moment that she had looked into a mirror. There stood a woman with her hair and eyes, but her skin was far too pale to be her own. "Tristan you have to stop this!"  
  
"Aunt Tris?" she mumbled. She looked behind her and saw her mother, no, her sister Lissien clinging tightly to a pillar, wimpering as the wind and rain whipped her. "Why are you here? Get out!" A strong gust of wind blew at Trisana, forcing her to call back up her barrier.  
  
"Stop this Tristan!" she demanded. "You're going to kill everyone here!"  
  
"Who cares?" Tristan asked. "Mother hates me, she treats me like I'm garbage. She doesn't speak to me. She said my magic was wrong. Then she goes and pampers Lissien like she's the princess of the world. And Numair is the prince. Somehow she manages to avoid me, but for once a week if even. So leave!"  
  
The storm worsened, the wind screeched and the rain felt like small stones biting into the skin. Lissien was covered with rivulets of blood from the rain. Her clothes were torn. "Stop sister!" she begged. "Oh please, it hurts!"  
  
Tristan became uncertain and at that moment Trisana jumped forward and grabbed her. Tristan began to scream. "Your mother doesn't hate you," Trisana whispered in her ear. "She doesn't, she loves you very much."  
  
Tristan struggled but then she stopped, sobbing. The storm began to calm and Lissien lifted her head up from the protective circle of her arms. She looked at Aunt Tris oddly. What was wrong with her? Everyone knew that Sandry disliked her eldest daughter. No one seemed to know why but whenever Lissien asked her mother or father they changed the subject quickly.  
  
"You're lying," Tristan said softly. "Mother does hate me, she hates my magic and the fact that I'm not like her."  
  
Trisana began to rock the still crying Tristan in her arms. Lissien watched and realized how much like Aunt Tris her sister actually looked like. All but the skin and general shape of body was the same. Even the way their faces turned red when they cried. Lissien realized to her great surprise that Trisana was crying!  
  
"Oh Tristan," Trisana said in a choked voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it would be so horrible for you."  
  
Tristan pulled away quickly and looked at Trisana. "What does that mean?" she demanded. "You couldn't have done anything for me! It was an accident of birth. I should have been one of your children. Marpessa, Xanthe, Ariadne and Jasmine are so happy with you. Every time I see them they are smiling and if they aren't it's for a good reason."  
  
Tristan took a deep breath and smooth back Tristan's wet hair. "Tristan, I swore that I would never tell you. Your father and mother said the same. But, you are so unhappy. You have to know."  
  
Lissien's eyes went wide as it dawned on her. She had never been quite as smart as her sister, after all Tristan was older, but she was rather sharp for her age. "No," she whispered hoarsely. "Tristan is my sister!"  
  
Tristan didn't hear Lissien and her mind was too numb for her too understand. "What did the three of you swear? If it's about you and father almost getting married then I know."  
  
"That's not it," Trisana said. She cleared her throat and looked straight into Tristan's steel gray eyes that were so much like her own. "My eldest child is not Marpessa, she's my second eldest and my second daughter. My eldest child is.you Tristan."  
  
"NO!!!" the scream came, not from Tristan but from Lissien. She had leapt up and tears streamed from her cornflower blue eyes. Her hands fumbled on the ground until they grasped a rock. She whipped it at Trisana and it bounced off her left cheek, sending blood spraying out. "You're lying! Tristan is my sister! My sister!" She fell to her knees and put her face in her hands. Sobs racked her body.  
  
Tristan stared blankly for a moment. "No," she whispered. "Sandry is my mother, I'm a noble, Briar is my father."  
  
"I'll not deny that," Trisana said. "Briar is indeed your father, but you're my daughter. Look at yourself and then at me, you know it to be true. Perhaps you have always known it."  
  
Tristan stumbled to her feet. "I need to.to think," she told Trisana. "Please, let me think. I'm confused. Mother, father. Lissien." Her vision began to darken as the toll her magic had taken took hold. She swooned and fell, luckily Trisana caught her. 


	6. Lissien's Grief

Lissien had felt anger course through her, along with hate and grief, when Trisana, she refused to say Aunt Tris anymore, had said, "You're my eldest daughter Tristan."  
  
When she had seen her sister fall she had fled the room, stumbling and sobbing, her eyes blurred by tears. She didn't know where she was going; she just knew that she wanted to get as far away as she could. They had lied to them all, father and mother had and Trisana too.  
  
When Lissien finally stopped running she found herself outside of the castle walls, on one of the back streets. "Where am I?" she asked. She thought that perhaps she should turn back, but her feet kept her going. She had always been curious and right now anything was welcome to keep the pain and truth at bay.  
  
"What are you doing down here noble-girl?" a voice drawled from the shadows. Lissien whirled around, searching for the person who had spoke. She knew the voice from somewhere.  
  
"Show yourself!" she commanded. "Else I'll..I'll.."  
  
"Oh I'm scared," the voice drawled again. Then he or she laughed and stepped out. Lissien relaxed and smiled broadly. The person was taller then she at about five foot seven and had skin the color of chocolate. Her hair was black and pulled back in many small braids, her eyes were dark brown and laughing at her. She wore a simple outfit of leather breeches and a tunic. She carried a long, smooth staff in her left hand that was capped on both ends by copper caps. Various designs swirled both the caps and the wood. "But what are you doing out in back alleys Lissien?"  
  
Lissien shrugged. "I don't know Copper, truly I don't." Copper was one of Daja's children, and the same age as Lissien. They were good friends and Lissien came to the city often to spend time with her Trader friend. They had formed a friendship early in life and were as good of friends as their mothers were.  
  
"You were crying," Copper said. "And running without reason. I heard you approach from far away."  
  
"How did you know it was me?" Lissien demanded. "After that storm it could have been anyone."  
  
"Your feet make a distinct sound," Copper replied. "And was it your sister who made that storm? Luckily mother didn't know I was out in it."  
  
Lissien looked closer at Copper and realized that she was drenched from head to foot. She shook her head. "I'll never understand you," she said. "And how did you hear me approach?" She decided not to say anything about Tristan, she didn't even want to think about Tristan.  
  
Copper smiled and kneeled down on the ground, pressing her ear to the ground. "The earth told me you were coming," she said. "They know your sound, they know all people's sound and described you to me. When they sent me the sound itself I knew it was you."  
  
Lissien shrugged her shoulders. "Isn't that one stone-mage my father brought back here your teacher?" she asked. "What was her name again, Evvy?"  
  
Copper nodded. "Evvy is a very good teacher," she said. "She has taught me much about stone and meditation. She says I have great potential to be even better then she is!"  
  
"And what does your mother say about the stone-magic?" Lissien asked softly.  
  
Copper turned her head as she bit her lip. Daja had not been excited that her daughter did not have smith magic, but the much more common stone magic. "Mother says that it will help me in the forge. But she also says if I wish I do not have to work in the forge. But I want to!" Copper's voice had risen. She was a decent smith, but not as good as Daja or as the two siblings who had smith-magic; Steel and Silver, the twin boy and girl.  
  
"At least your mother allows you to do as you wish," Lissien said. "Tristan is always." she stopped, her voice choked. Tears came unbidden to her eyes as she heard and saw what had happened in the tower again.  
  
"I know how Tristan feels," Copper said. "But lets get off of this grim subject." Copper slung an arm over Lissien's shoulders. "Come to my house with me, mother will be glad to have you for supper."  
  
Lissien allowed herself to be half-dragged half-pulled for about three city blocks until they reached Copper's house. It was house with a very large forge off to one side. Daja was the finest smith-mage in Summersea, even better then her teacher Dedicate Frostpine. "Oh by the way," Copper added as they entered. "Frostpine, Rosethorn and Lark are dining with us as well."  
  
Lissien smiled. She loved Lark, her mother's teacher was one of the kindest women she had ever met and was always willing to teach her new spinning techniques. Inside the dining room seated around the large table were Daja, her husband Padkar; their children, Steel (fifteen), Silver (fifteen), Bronze (nine), Platinum (six) and the youngest Gold (three). Dedicates Rosethorn, Lark and Frostpine were there just as Copper had said.  
  
Copper sat at an empty spot next to Frostpine and Lissien slid in across from her, right next to Lark. "Good day to you Lissien," Lark said. Her eyes widened as she took in the condition of Lissien's once beautiful blue silk dress. It was now dirty and torn. "By the gods what happened to you?"  
  
Lissien plucked at her tattered dress and replied, "The storm. I got a little too close to the center."  
  
They all nodded and Daja stood up to embrace Lissien. "It is always good to see you child. Copper is your good friend and you are of course the daughter of my good friend. How fares your mother, father and siblings?"  
  
Lissien choked as she said, "Mother and father are well. As is Numair, he is happy with his gardens. Although he likes to play tricks on the others in the castle and just the other day he."  
  
"What about Tristan?" Daja interrupted.  
  
Lissien's eyes clouded and she said, "Tristan is..is..unwell. Trisana, she said that." Lissien broke down and began to cry uncontrollably. Lark reached over and patter her shoulder gently. Lissien turned and began to sob into the Dedicate's shoulder.  
  
Daja exchanged a knowing glance with the other adults and took Lissien from Lark. "Let me talk to her," she told her. She then led Lissien off to another, smaller room and said, "Tell me what has happened."  
  
Lissien looked up at her, her blue eyes glistening with tears. Her face was pale and she said, "Tristan isn't my sister, is she?"  
  
"Shurri Firesword!" Daja swore. "You know."  
  
Lissien nodded and began to cry again. Daja rocked her gently, hushing the smaller girl, her dark eyes haunted.  
  
((So how do you like it? Pretty neat. Thanks for all the name ideas. See I used most of them! Thanks for all the reviews.)) 


	7. Sandry, Trisana and Briar Talk

((Deivineone - The reason Sandry said that was because she is still sore at Trisana about Tristan and Briar. Otherwise you're right, she never would have said anything like that. Sir James of Howell- The overall plot is something along the lines of I have got no clue yet. I just wanted to introduce everyone and set down a few basic things before I planned out the plot. Maybe I'll make another story with the characters here now. Coolcatjenny- You're welcome and thanks for the ideas. White-wolf- Thanks for the constant reviews. Oh just as a side-note the title makes no sense so any ideas for a new one or for one for a new story would be VERY welcome.))  
  
Disclaimer: Tristan, Lissien, Numair, Copper, Steel, Silver, Gold, Bronze, Platinum and Padkar are my original characters.  
  
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~*  
  
The day after the large storm that Tristan had brought up Sandry was a nervous wreck. Lissien was missing, she had absolutely no idea where her daughter was. "Briar," she cried when he walked in the door. She threw herself at him. "Did you find her? Please tell my that you found her safe and sound!" Her cornflower blue eyes were pleading.  
  
Briar looked away. "No Sandry," he said quietly. "I did not find our daughter. She's still missing and no street rats have seen her as of late. I'm sorry love, but she's missing."  
  
Sandry let out a wail and clung tightly to Briar, sobbing. She had not seen her daughter since Briar had sent her with Trisana to calm Tristan down. They had managed to do that somehow but neither Trisana or Tristan would talk about it. Indeed Tristan refused to look Sandry or Briar in the eye.  
  
"I think she knows," Sandry said when she had at last calmed herself. "I think that Trisana told her and Lissien must have overheard it. Or maybe Lissien was... no, I will not think about that!"  
  
There was a quiet knock on the door and Briar called out, "Come in."  
  
The door opened and Trisana stepped into the room. Her eyes were red and her face puffy, from crying. Sandry couldn't help but smile. "You look so much like you used to," she said. "When we were growing up at Discipline. Those were good times and we all were such good friends."  
  
~That we were~ Trisana said. Sandry and Briar looked slightly shocked. It had been so long since they had used their mind-link. ~We need to talk in secret~ Tris explained. ~You know that the very walls have ears and may use the words we will say against us~  
  
~Yes we do know that Copper curls~ Briar replied, smiling. ~Now what must you speak with us about?~  
  
~Is it about our daughter?~ Sandry asked eagerly. ~About Lissien?~  
  
Trisana glared at Sandry. ~It's about Tristan. I told her to stop the storm. It worked, the storm stopped. But I think that she is very angry with the three of us right now~  
  
~What of Lissien though?~ Sandry demanded. ~What happened to her?~  
  
~Your daughter ran off when she heard what I said. She kept yelling No! No! No! I think the truth hurt her more then any of the things that actually struck her~  
  
~Ran off?~ Sandry asked, her eyes going wide.  
  
~Yes run off~ Tris snapped. ~But pay attention to me. Tristan is in a lot of pain right now and she's confused. She's only thirteen and her magic isn't very well controlled. She can't keep it under rein and when she is in pain whether physical or emotional things happen. But I never made things like that storm happen. You need to talk to her Briar~ Tris turned her eyes on Sandry and her face softened. ~But you first and most my sister. She's hurting and I think you know what caused it. Explain things to her. Tell her why it happened and tell her why you raised her instead of me~  
  
Tears filled Sandry's eyes. She remembered the reason that she had taken and raised Tristan. She had just gotten married to Briar and Trisana bore him a daughter. In a fit of righteousness Briar had claimed the child and Sandry had decided that they should raise her. She had loved her as her own until her magic became like Trisana's and Lissien's like hers. Then for some reason Sandry had felt jealousy at the redheaded child. ~I will speak to her~ Sandry promised at last.  
  
Trisana smiled and squeezed her foster-sister's arm. ~Be kind please, my daughter is as fragile of feelings as I once was. When we were younger and good friends~  
  
~I remember~ Sandry replied. ~The time Niko yelled at you and you cried because he frightened you. Don't worry; I know how frail she is. I did raise her for quite a few years, remember?~  
  
~Of course I do~ Tris replied. ~Just saying it in case. I worry~  
  
Sandry threw a smile over her shoulder as she left the room. ~Oh, while I'm talking to Tristan will the two of you get Numair and try to find Lissien? I don't think you checked around Daja's house Briar. She likes it there~ Then she was gone and Briar and Tris exchanged a look before going to look for Numair and get down to the city. 


	8. Sandry's Pain

Disclaimer: Tristan, Lissien, Numair, Copper, Steel, Silver, Gold, Bronze, Platinum and Padkar are my original characters.  
  
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~*  
  
Sandry knocked on the door and heard a quiet voice call, "Come in." She pushed open the door and the light from the crystal she was holding flooded the room. Tristan looked up at her from her bed, her eyes squinted shut at the light. She had been sitting in the dark.  
  
Sandry pointed at the edge of the bed and asked, "May I sit down with you?"  
  
Tristan shrugged and turned away. "It's your castle," she replied stiffly. "I have no right to any of it, it isn't in my blood and I can't say what you may and may not do here."  
  
Sandry bit her lip and sat down. Tristan was very upset it would seem and was not very willing to speak to the woman who had been her mother for thirteen years. Yet she had only acted like it up until half a year ago when Tristan' magic had started acting funny. But she still loved her as if she were her own child. "Tristan," she started in a soft voice. "I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?" Tristan snapped. "Lying to me all of my life? Treating me like dirt for near a year because I'm not like you? Or sorry because father nearly slipped through your fingers once upon a time and that is why I'm here?"  
  
Sandry sighed. "Tristan you have every right to be angry. You've been lied to most of your life; you now know that you're not my daughter. But if you would look back you would see that I've loved you as much as Numair or Lissien. Maybe even a little more at times. You are so much different then I am Tristan, but I can see so much of your father and Trisana in you." She reached out and touched Tristan's hair. "You resemble her more though, you even act like her at times."  
  
"Is that why you hate me?" Tristan demanded, yanking her head away. She turned to face Sandry, her gray eyes blazing. "Because I'm like her? So much like her, I resemble Trisana so much, just like Lissien resembles you."  
  
"Tristan you're your own person. You resemble Trisana and act like her sometimes but you're still you and act differently then she does. You're my daughter,"  
  
"No!" Tristan burst out, jumping up from the bed. "I am NOT your daughter! Curse you Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, curse you! You're a noble and I am not! I'm the daughter of a street-rat and a merchant. All of my life has been a joke. That's why the commoners, my true people, look at me like I'm in the wrong spot isn't it? They see Trisana in me, but they see none of you! And the reason is that I have none of you. You are not my mother and I am not your daughter!" She then slapped Sandry with her balled up fist, leaving a red mark where her fist had hit. Sandry recoiled, her eyes wide, her hand going up to where the pain was.  
  
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**  
  
As one Trisana and Briar gripped the left side of their faces where a sudden red mark had appeared. They also felt anguish and grief in their minds. "Sandry," Briar moaned, turning to run back to the castle.  
  
"Tristan," Trisana corrected him, grabbing hold of his arm. "They're talking Briar, it'll take a while before they're done. And don't forget, we have got to find your other daughter still."  
  
Briar sighed. "You're right," he admitted. "You go on to Daja's and I'll ask all the street rats. They'll answer me. Come on Numair." The two of them vanished off into the shadows and left Trisana to walk on towards Daja's house.  
  
~~**~~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**  
  
Daja reeled backwards in her forge and let out a small yelp. Instantly Copper was at her side along with Lissien. "What's wrong Aunt Daja?" Lissien asked, her cornflower blue eyes worried. "Are you hurt."  
  
"Ouch," Copper said, touching her hand to Daja's left cheek where a red mark had appeared. "That looks painful. How'd you get that one mom?"  
  
"Sandry," Daja gasped. "Someone hit Sandry and Sandry refused to hit back. She feels pain, grief, anger." She turned to Lissien. "Your mother and half- sister are talking girl."  
  
Lissien's eyes flared. "Don't call her my half-sister!" she snapped. "Tristan is as much my sister as Numair is my brother!"  
  
Daja shook her head and gripped Lissien tightly by the shoulders. "We talked about this Lissien," she said. "You have to admit the truth and face it. It can't hurt forever. She's still your sister, just a little less then Numair is your brother. She's related to you as much as Trisana's children are related to her."  
  
Lissien nodded and turned back to the tools she was cleaning. Hot tears trailed a clean path down her dirty face. She hated the fact that Tristan wasn't her full sister but she might accept it in time.  
  
((There's an update for all of you who reviewed! Thanks a whole bunch!  
  
Review some more, with the pretty purple button at the bottom of the page.)) 


	9. Numair's Crush

((And here we get Numair into it all. It's his turn, Lissien and Tristan have both already had theirs.))  
  
Numair followed his father through the alleyway. "Why are we looking for Lissien?" he asked for the tenth time. "She's probably just with Copper or someone." Not that I blame her, he thought. He had always had a crush on Copper's big sister, Silver. Sure she was three years older then him, but he could always hope.  
  
"Because we need to find her," Briar explained. "She was angry and distraught when she ran away. Who knows where she could have ended up? She could be hurt."  
  
"I bet she's at Aunt Daja's with Copper. I wish I could be there rather then here." Even though Numair loved the streets he loved Aunt Daja's house much better. He had some friends on the streets but none so strong as Steel was or as pretty as Silver. Silver had that long, soft silver colored hair and clear brown eyes. Her skin was the color of light chocolate and she laughed like bells.  
  
Briar cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows. Numair blushed and looked at his feet. "Daydreaming again?" Briar asked. Numair nodded sheepishly. "About which lucky girl?" Briar asked.  
  
"I'm not telling," Numair said. His father would taunt and tease him, he knew he would. And he expected it; if he didn't then he'd feel hurt.  
  
"Oh come now Numair!" Briar said. "If you don't tell me then I'll figure it out eventually, you know that I will. The street rats will be eager enough to say of course."  
  
"Silver," Numair said. "I have a small crush on Silver."  
  
"Daja's girl?" Briar asked and Numair nodded. "Well she is rather pretty son, but she's three years older then you."  
  
"I know," Numair said miserably. "But I can't help it, she's so beautiful!"  
  
Briar chuckled. "I understand son," he said. "And I know how you feel. But beauty isn't always the best. Although I am glad I married your mother do not get me wrong there."  
  
"Why did Lissien flee the castle?" Numair asked to change the subject.  
  
"She heard something that upset her greatly."  
  
"What did she hear?" Numair asked. "What could make her flee recklessly?"  
  
Briar's face stiffened and he looked away for a moment. "Well if Lissien knows you can know," he conceded. "After all you're older." He took a deep breath. "Tristan is only your half-sister. She's my daughter and Trisana's."  
  
For a moment Numair said nothing. Then he laughed. "Is that all?" he asked through his laughs. "I've known that for quite a while!"  
  
"How?" Briar demanded.  
  
"I looked at her face, your face, mother's face and Aunt Tris's face. It isn't that hard to see the similarities and differences," Numair said. "And you know how certain street rats like to gossip and I hang around with them quite a bit. Certain ones have been saying that Tristan is not mother's daughter for quite some time now if I recall correctly."  
  
Briar's face turned bright red. "Which ones?" he asked.  
  
"Lilly-eyes and Smallstock," Numair replied quickly. "But please don't harm them, they are me friends."  
  
"Your mother would object to you befriending street rats," Briar noted.  
  
"Mother married a street rat once named Roach," Numair shot back.  
  
"So what's your street name?" Briar asked. He had known for quite a while that his son was hanging around street rats.  
  
"They all call me Greenhand," Numair replied. "I help their small gardens to prosper whenever I can get out of the castle."  
  
"That is good for you Numair," Briar told him. "I am glad that you help the common and poor even though they cannot pay you."  
  
"Of course I do," Numair replied. "It is my job and we have always been taught to help those who need it. The poor need it as much as the rich do."  
  
"Good lad," Briar said. "Now that I think of it though let's stop looking through these alleys. Your sister is probably over at Daja's like you said. Come and let's see."  
  
((Sorry if the quality is going slightly down, it'll shoot up again but I wanted to stick Numair in there somehow. Please REVIEW!!!)) 


	10. Running Away

(Thanks for all of the reviews!!))  
  
"What are you doing?" Copper asked sleepily. She looked outside and saw  
  
that the sky was pitch black, it was near midnight. She had been woke  
  
up by someone cursing softly and a loud thump.  
  
"Nothing," Lissien replied. "Go back to sleep." She had gotten up and  
  
whacked her knee on the night table that sat beside the bed she had  
  
ended up sharing with Copper for the past two nights.  
  
"You're lying," Copper said, yawning. She rolled out of bed and began  
  
pulling on her clothing. "I'm coming with you, wherever you are going."  
  
"I'm going back to the castle," Lissien said as she pulled on her  
  
boots. "I'm going to find Tristan and we're going to leave."  
  
"Leave?" Copper echoed. "And go where?"  
  
"I don't know," Lissien admitted. "Anywhere but here."  
  
"What about your mother and father?" Copper asked. "What about Trisana  
  
and your brother, Numair?"  
  
"Numair will come with us," Lissien said, confident in her beliefs.  
  
Numair and her father had come by that afternoon and Lissien had sent  
  
her father off with the promise of returning in a week. Numair she had  
  
told of her plan and had made him promise to tell Tristan. They both  
  
would be waiting for her at one in the outer courtyard.  
  
"Well I hope you don't mind," Copper said. "But I am coming as well."  
  
"No you're not!" Lissien hissed. "I can't have you get all messed up in  
  
this, you're my best friend. Daja will be heart-broken if you leave  
  
her."  
  
"Mother has plenty of children," Copper said in a forlorn voice. "If I  
  
was Steel or Silver then she would care more, but I'm just Copper."  
  
"What are you two doing?" someone asked from the doorway. "It's  
  
midnight at least, you should both be sleeping."  
  
"Go back to bed Bronze," Copper hissed. In the doorway stood her little  
  
brother. He had darker skin then Copper and his hair looked like  
  
burnished bronze and his eyes were a light brown.  
  
"I heard what you said," Bronze said, crossing his arms. "And I'm going  
  
to tell mother."  
  
"Please don't!" Lissien cried. "Please, she will make us stay!"  
  
Bronze tilted his head. "I won't tell," he said. "If you let me come  
  
with you."  
  
"No way, Bronze," Copper said. "You're way too little."  
  
Bronze's eyes narrowed. "Either let me come or mother will find out  
  
what you are doing."  
  
Copper looked at Lissien, who shrugged. "Let him come," she said. "So  
  
long as we get out of here soon!"  
  
"You can come," Copper said. "Go and pack a small bag and bring your  
  
Trader's staff." Bronze nodded and ran back up the hallway, making no  
  
sound as he went.  
  
"This is just great," Lissien said as she finished tying her  
  
boots. "From three to five."  
  
"Make that six," a voice said from behind her.  
  
Lissien and Copper both whirled around to find someone looking in on  
  
them from the window. "Who are you?" Copper demanded. "And what do you  
  
want?"  
  
The person ignored Copper and climbed in the window to stare at  
  
Lissien. "You're her half-sister too," she said, for she was a girl.  
  
She had hair that looked like melted silver and strange red eyes. Her  
  
hand went out to brush Lissien's face. "You don't look a thing like  
  
your father, you are your mother's child surely."  
  
"Who are you?" Lissien asked as she looked at this girl. She did not  
  
recognize anything about her...wait, yes she did. She was built the  
  
same as her sister and had the same, sharp nose. "You are Trisana  
  
Chandler's daughter."  
  
"One of them," the girl said as she sat down. She brushed her silver  
  
hair out of her fire red eyes and said, "My name is Kynara Chandler.  
  
But I am going to take the name Kynara Firesight."  
  
"Kynara," Lissien echoed. "Mother mentioned you. But I never saw you  
  
when I visited Trisana's house."  
  
"I stay out of sight," Kynara said. "I tend to frighten people with my  
  
hair and eyes. And what I say."  
  
"Why?" Copper asked, fascinated. She sat down across from Kynara, her  
  
eyes wide.  
  
"I see and hear things," Kynara replied. "That will happen. And I knew  
  
to come here and go with you. Lissien, Numair, Copper, Bronze, myself  
  
and Tristan of course. So come along, your brother has returned. We  
  
must leave now if we are to be gone before they wake."  
  
((Short I know, but I rushed. Forgive me if it takes a while to update,  
  
I'm not able to use a computer on a regular basis. Thanks for the name  
  
ideas Hermione!!!)) 


	11. Leaving Summersea

((Very sorry it took my the WHOLE summer to update this story, but hey. I had no access to a computer. By the way, thank you for all the reviews. Here's the next part.))  
  
DISCLAIMER: Disclaimer: Tristan, Lissien, Numair, Copper, Steel, Silver, Gold, Bronze, Platinum, Kynara and Padkar are my original characters.  
  
Numair slipped the pack over his shoulder and made sure he had everything. "Food, water, some money, flint and steel, a few more useful things. Yep, I'm ready. I just have to go and get Tristan. Then to the courtyard to wait for Lissien." He opened his door and stuck his head out, checking for servants.  
  
There were none so he slipped out and went quickly up the stairs to Tristan's room. Once there he raised his hand to knock on the door but it opened before he could and his sister was there. "Ready?" she asked him. He nodded and she said, "Good, then come on. There's no one nearby right now and Lissien is down in the courtyard." She frowned as they started down. "But there are three others with her."  
  
Numair shrugged. "So? Maybe they tagged along. We'll just send them home when we get there."  
  
"I should send all of you home," Tristan mumbled. "Nothing happened to you, your life isn't basically a lie. You have no reason to leave home. Sandry and Briar will be devastated."  
  
Numair sighed and said nothing. If Tristan wanted to feel that way then it was her business and not his. He himself didn't exactly know why they were leaving. Maybe because he wanted to go places like his father had. He wanted to be important like his father was. Maybe by traveling he would become as good a mage as his father was.  
  
Once in the courtyard Tristan was slightly shocked at who was with Lissien. "Lissien!" she cried. "What do you think you are doing?"  
  
Lissien looked slightly shamefaced. "Copper woke when I did and refused to let me leave unless she came. Then Bronze did basically the same thing." She jerked her head at the other girl Tristan didn't recognize, her cornflower blue eyes wide. "She showed up at my window and told me she was coming with us. She didn't exactly give us a choice in the matter. So it isn't really my fault."  
  
"I see," Tristan said. Her gray eyes were curious as she searched the other girl. "Remove your hood," she commanded. "I cannot see your face at all. I will know who comes with me."  
  
The girl laughed, an odd sound like she did not do it much. "You speak like a noble there, Tristan," she said as she removed her hood. "Just like your siblings tend too. But you're not really a noble, are you sister?"  
  
Tristan tried to hide her feelings but she could not. The girl before her had fire red eyes, soft silver hair and had the same nose as she did. Tear- filled gray eyes met searching red ones. "Sister," she said softly. "You're a Chandler, daughter of Trisana, aren't you?"  
  
Kynara nodded and said, "My name is Kynara Chandler. Trisana's less then well-known child. She doesn't exactly let me go into public, actually I hate to. People think I look quite odd. So, Tristan, are we leaving now?"  
  
Tristan nodded. Then she said, "You know I can do this alone. None of you must come. In fact I strongly suggest that you do not come. I wish for you all to return home right now."  
  
Lissien laughed. "Yeah right Tristan," she said. "I'm your sister and I'm coming. Mother will get over missing us, as will father. We'll come back someday too. Just not for a while." She smiled and her blue eyes danced, just like Sandry's. "Besides, why would I pass up the chance to adventure around the world? You'll feel better after we're gone Tristan, I know you will."  
  
Tristan smiled at her sister; then at the other four. "All right then, I guess we all go. Even Bronze who, as far as I know, has never been outside of his district."  
  
Bronze glared at Tristan and said, "Maybe not but I can help quite a bit. I have Singing Magic!"  
  
Copper nodded. "He does," she told Tristan. "He can't control it totally but never let him sing to you, you don't know what he might do."  
  
Numair was shifting nervously from foot to foot. "I don't mean to break up your little chat," he said. "But can we get going? They'll be searching for us and we want to be as far away as we can get before they find us gone. It'll take them a day, at most, to send out a search party. And I suspect they'll convince Niko to help find us. So I want to be gone!"  
  
"Then let's go," Tristan said, heading out the gate. "Which way though?"  
  
"East," said Bronze.  
  
"South!" Copper cried.  
  
Kynara said quietly, "We should go south."  
  
"South it is," Lissien said and followed her sister. "South to the ports and then?"  
  
"A boat," Kynara said. "We hire a boat and set sail. Something they will never expect."  
  
"It's all settled," Numair said. "We go on a ship. Great fun."  
  
"If you don't want to come then go back home," Lissien snapped.  
  
Tristan grinned and shook her head. "That isn't so bad. It's all back to normal."  
  
((Ta-Daa! New chapter up. Please REVIEW!!!!!)) 


	12. They're Gone!

((Thanks for the compliments on how this is a great story. This one will be coming to a close soon, and a new one will be up. With a different title but same characters. I need a name for it though, any ideas will be very appreciated.))  
  
DISCLAIMER: Tristan, Lissien, Numair, Copper, Steel, Silver, Gold, Bronze, Platinum, Kynara and Padkar are my original characters.  
  
Briar woke up to the sounds of glass shattering against stone. He sat up quickly and realized that Sandry wasn't in bed. Looking out the window he saw that the sky was still dark, the sun hadn't even come up. Then the voice of a very angry woman cursing drifted to his ears. He stumbled out of bed and opened the door to the sitting room. Only to duck a second later to avoid a glass figure that had been whipped at his head. "What in the name of the Trickster are you doing?!" "Are you out of your bloody mind?"  
  
Sandry halted, an extremely expensive vase held high in the air. "Your, your children are gone!" She then let the vase fly at him luckily he caught it.  
  
"I bought this in the Copper Isles," he told her as he set the vase down on a small, now chipped, table. "And what do you mean, my children? They are yours as well."  
  
Sandry glared at him, cornflower blue eyes blazing, and stuffed a letter into his hand. "Read it," she told him through tightly clenched teeth. Then she sat down, small hands clenched tightly together.  
  
Briar opened the note and began to read, his gray-green eyes widening. It was written in Tristan's neat handwriting:  
  
~Mother, Father..Aunt Trisana:  
  
I, Numair and Lissien are leaving. It was Lissien's idea, not mine. It is my belief that she is more hurt by the truth right now then I am. She does not want to accept it, even less then I do. I only wish you would have told us sooner in order to save all of us un-necessary grief.  
  
I still am not sure why we are leaving. We will return, of course, once we have figured out why we left in the first place. I will not say I am sorry, for I am not. All three of you should be very sorry for how much what you did hurt all of us, not just me and Lissien, but Numair and Trisana's other children as well.  
  
Still, I love you; as I am sure Numair and Lissien do. Of course we do, you are our parents. Still, you hurt me and I hope it hurts the three of you even more then it should already. You hurt me in order to save face, to keep your pride. Your shame would have been great indeed, so you made something up. It would have hurt you less if you had simply admitted the truth at first then it did with what you did.  
  
I pray for Shurri Firesword, Mila of the Grain and Lakoi the Trickster to forgive you. They will do so much sooner then the rest of us. Oti log this. Nothing like it has never happened and nothing like it ever will again.  
  
Be well, my parents.  
  
~ Lady Tristan fa Toren  
  
Briar was shaking when he finished. He felt a very strong urge to swear but he held it in. "We have to tell Trisana," he said. "And Daja, Lissien is staying at her house."  
  
Sandry nodded. "I sent for someone to get our teachers. They will get Daja and send one of her children to fetch Trisana. They'll be here soon enough."  
  
"Teachers helping us again," Briar said with a small smile. "Gods help us I hope they can."  
  
Sandry crawled over to him and pulled him down beside her. Then she crawled into his lap and lay her head on his shirt. She began to sob as her stroked her light brown hair. "They can," she told him through her tears. "If anyone can then it is them."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Mother!" the cry rang through the quiet house. A young woman with clear brown eyes, soft chocolate colored-skin and long silvery-hair ran through a hallway and stopped at a door. "Mother! Mother wake up!"  
  
The door swung open to reveal a very tired-looking Daja. "Silver?" she asked. "What is wrong?"  
  
Silver's soft eyes were wide with shock. "Dedicates Frostpine and Rosethorn just arrived. They need to see you, they mentioned Lissien being gone. I checked in on all the others and Lissien is gone. Along with Copper and Bronze!"  
  
Daja swore softly under her breath and came out into the hall. "Make breakfast for the family, Silver," she said as her daughter followed her. "For four less then yesterday." Silver nodded and vanished through the door that led to the kitchen.  
  
"Well!" Rosethorn said when Daja appeared. "It is about time. I thought that girl of yours would be forever in fetching you!"  
  
Daja sat down. "Good to see you as well, Rosethorn," she said with a smile. "But why are all of you here before dawn?"  
  
"Because we received word from Sandry that Numair and Tristan are gone," Frostpine said in a worried voice. "We were sent to fetch you and have to send one of you children to make sure someone told Trisana."  
  
"But why would Sandry want you to come here?" Daja asked. "How could she possibly know that my children were missing as well?"  
  
"Your children are missing?" Frostpine asked. "How many and who?"  
  
"Only two," Daja replied. "Copper and Bronze, along with Lissien who was staying here."  
  
"Well Lissien is why they sent for you of course," Rosethorn said. "They did not want you to worry about her absence. They could not have possibly known that your children are gone."  
  
"You're right Rosethorn, as usual. Now I'll send one of my children to make sure the others arrived at Trisana's and told her. Steel!" she called. "Stop listening at the door and go to your Aunt Tris's house. I know you heard every word we said so go repeat it to her. And run!"  
  
A slightly shame-faced young man with a very muscular frame who resembled Silver quite a bit ran through the room and out the door. Daja stood up as he left and grabbed her Trader's Staff and turned to the Dedicates. "Well?" she asked. "Are you coming or not?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rapid knocking reached Trisana's ears. She got up of bed and pulled a robe on over her nightdress. Then she picked up her lighting-filled orb and went to her front door. "Yes?" she asked. "Who is it?"  
  
"My name is Steel," Steel said, panting. "My mother, Daja, just sent me to give you a message if Niko and Dedicate Lark have not already arrived."  
  
Trisana opened her mouth but someone said from behind Steel, "You barely beat us here Steel." It was Lark and she was smiling. "You can go home now Steel, you need to help your sister with breakfast."  
  
Steel didn't argue, he simply ran off back the way he had come. Lark smiled at Trisana and said, "He listens so well, doesn't he? May we come in please? It is still rather cold out."  
  
Trisana gave a start and stepped back. "Of course you may," she said. "Sorry, I forgot my manners. I never expected to see so many people at my home so early in the morning. Lark, Niko, would either of you like some tea?"  
  
"No thank you, my dear," Niko said as he stepped in. "We would like to tell you what is happening before we take you to Sandry and Briar's house."  
  
Trisana paled visibly. "Something bad did happen, didn't it?"  
  
"Be calm Trisana," Lark said. "But please go and check on your children. Make sure they are all in their beds where they belong at this hour. Quickly."  
  
Trisana nodded and went to each of her children's rooms. Marpessa, Xanthe, Ariadne and Jasmine were all in their beds. As were Nikan and Somen. But Kynara was not. "Kynara is missing," she told the two in a shaking voice. "But the others are all in their beds."  
  
Lark sucked in her breath. "Kynara is the one who sees the future, isn't she?" Trisana nodded. "Damn!"  
  
Trisana's gray eyes widened. "Lark!" she said. "I have very rarely heard you use such words!"  
  
Lark glared at her. "You may get used to it soon enough. Ask Sandry, Rosethorn or Lissien, they have heard me use such words on more then one occasion."  
  
"Please explain what is going on?" Trisana begged. "I do not understand, why is my daughter missing?"  
  
"Two of your daughters are missing," Niko, corrected her. "Tristan and Kynara are gone. Along with Numair and Lissien. I suspect someone is missing from Daja's house."  
  
"Why do you think that?" Lark asked.  
  
"Because it wouldn't be confusing enough if one wasn't," Niko explained with a smile.  
  
Lark rolled her eyes and turned to Trisana, "Tris you must come with us now. Whether or not you want to doesn't matter. We can force you to if you won't come willingly."  
  
"I'll come," Trisana said with a sigh. "Just let me get dressed."  
  
((There's twelve! It'll end in the next two or three chapters I think. REVIEW please!!!)) 


	13. The Day After They Left

((Here's an update. Not many people read this story anymore, do they?))  
  
DISCLAIMER: Tristan, Lissien, Numair, Copper, Steel, Silver, Gold, Bronze, Platinum, Kynara, Marpessa, Xanthe, Ariadne, Jasmine, Nikan, Somem, and Padkar are my original characters.  
  
Sandry collapsed, exhausted, into one of the chairs in the room. "So what are we going to do?" she asked everyone. "Does anyone know?" They had all gone over what had happened and reasons why, now it was far into the night and they still didn't know what to do.  
  
"Go after them of course," Briar said. "Send out a search party and bring them back home where they belong. And where they'll get a beating like they've never dreamed of for running off like they did."  
  
"What if they did what they did for a good reason?" Trisana asked quietly. "What if they had a reason for running away and bringing them back would only make them hate us for it?"  
  
Niko smiled and said, "I'm proud of you for considering that Trisana. I'm proud that at least one of our former students discovered that forcing young people to do things is not always the right thing to do. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it is not."  
  
"Then will we just let them go?" Sandry demanded angrily. "Allow our children, who've never been out of Emelan, to explore the world alone?"  
  
"No," Trisana said. "I never said that."  
  
"Then what did you mean?"  
  
"I meant that we do not drag them back here against their will."  
  
"Then what do you propose we do?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"This is not the best idea you've ever had," Sandry, told Tris the next afternoon. "You do know that right?"  
  
"Would you rather stay home?" Trisana asked.  
  
"Hell no!" Sandry replied. "Three of my children are out there, I have more right to go then anyone else does."  
  
"Well we're coming too Aunt Sandry," Silver said. She had a backpack on and held a Trader's Staff in her hand. "We want to help find our siblings, friends and we want to see the world that is outside of Emelan."  
  
"Well I am grateful for the help of two strong young smiths," Sandry said with a smile.  
  
"And what about me?" Nikan asked. "Do you not want my help?"  
  
"I never said that Nikan," Sandry replied. "I was simply talking to Silver. Of course a strong young mage will be a great help." Like his namesake, Niko, Nikan had studied to become a mage at Lightsbridge Academy. And he was a very successful one. At the age of twenty-five he had graduated and had taken the name Greenfire.  
  
"Who else is coming with us Aunt Sandry?" Silver asked as she helped Steel with his pack.  
  
"Dedicate Lark," Sandry replied. "She knows a lot about traveling and did quite a bit when she was younger. Her help will be greatly appreciated."  
  
"Why thank you, dear," Lark said as she walked up. "It's nice to know that someone appreciates me."  
  
"We all appreciate you Lark," Trisana protested. "It's just that Sandry shows it more often because you were you teacher."  
  
"Not only because of that!" Sandry said. "It's because I love her, she was my teacher and is my friend."  
  
"Well know that we have determined who loves me," Lark said with a smile. "Let's get going."  
  
"Finally!" Nikan said. "How are we going to search for them?"  
  
"Magic of course," Sandry said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"What are you doing?" Tristan asked Lissien. Her younger sister was bending over the trail they had come from, mumbling words and waving her hands over the path.  
  
"Magic," Lissien said in response.  
  
"I can see that!" Tristan snapped. They could all see magic; it had been passed onto them from their parents. "But why are you doing that? They will be able to trace us far easier if we leave a trail of magic behind."  
  
Lissien looked up at Tristan and rolled her eyes. "Please Tristan," she said. "Do you really think that I'm that stupid? I'm having a trail of magic follow us and then I'm sending it off to the west. It'll keep going at a normal walking pace for at least three weeks. Hopefully anyone they send out after us will be fooled into following it."  
  
"That's a good idea," Copper said. "I'm really glad that you thought of it."  
  
"Can we continue on please?" Kynara asked. "It's nearing mid-afternoon and I really think we should be on a boat, headed anywhere soon. I'd like a head start on our trackers."  
  
"I agree," Numair said from the head of the line. "Let me go and find a boat and pay our passage and then I'll come back and get you."  
  
"How will you get a ship? And what if someone sees you and tells mother?" Lissien asked.  
  
Numair grinned crookedly at her and said, "Lissien I hang out with street rats most of the time. Give me a break, sneaking around the ports without being seen? As easy as getting out of the castle!" Then he was gone.  
  
"He better stop being so confident," Copper muttered as she sat on a crate. "He could get us into some major trouble that way."  
  
"He's always been confident," Tristan said as she took a drink of water. "In everything he does."  
  
"He gets it from dad," Lissien said. "He's confident too."  
  
Everyone got quiet after that, until Bronze began to sing quietly. Copper stuffed her fingers in her ears then smacked him on the back of the head. "Stop that," she said crossly.  
  
"Why'd you hit him for?" Lissien asked.  
  
"Because the last time he sang near me I ended up dancing for eight hours straight and could not stop," Copper said sullenly. "And the time before that I recited poetry that I had never even heard of for an entire day. Mother had to have Dedicate Lark weave me a charm to get rid of that one. I have to wear it, if I take it off then I begin reciting again."  
  
"That's a powerful spell," Kynara said, her eyes wide. "How can one so young be so strong in his magic?"  
  
"I don't know," Bronze said honestly. "I don't even fully know how to control it. I didn't mean to put that spell on Copper, the poem one that is. I did mean to make her dance however."  
  
Everyone, even Copper, laughed at that and Numair came in with a beaming smile upon his face. "Come on guys!" he said. "I got us passage on a boat heading away!"  
  
((Sorry the end part sucks, but hey, it works and I was rushed.)) 


	14. The End

((This is the last chapter under this story. Another one will be started up soon, called The Children of the Four. Because they all were children of Sandry, Briar, Trisana or Daja. I hope those who read and enjoyed this story will go on to read that one because it will continue with the same basic characters. Thanks!))  
  
"Aunt Sandry!" Nikan called from the alleyway he had gone down. "Aunt Sandry there is a trail of magic here!"  
  
Sandry turned, her twin braids whipping against her head, and ran down to where the young mage knelt. She inhaled sharply and called for Lark and the others. When they got there she showed them the thin trail of magic. "Obviously what happened here is Lissien used her magic for some reason or another," Sandry reasoned. "Why we don't know but it leaves an obvious trail as to where she went."  
  
"So we follow it?" Steel asked.  
  
Lark nodded. "Yes we will follow this trail. It is the only obvious way we have to go."  
  
Silver was frowning as she fingered the ground where the magic was. "This is a decoy trail," she said suddenly, standing up. "This was made for the purpose of luring us away from where they are really going."  
  
Sandry went down on her knees and somehow picked up the strand of magic. Irritation flitted across her face and her small nose wrinkled. "Silver's right," she said and handed the thread of magic to Lark. "Feel it."  
  
Lark did so and her eyes went wide. "It's a part of a ball of thread-magic unrolling off to the north. How did she do that?"  
  
"I don't know," Sandry said. "I never...wait. I did teach her that one. But I never thought she would use it against me. I am her own mother after all."  
  
"They didn't want to be followed," Steel pointed out. "So she used what she thought would work. If Silver hadn't checked it out we'd be heading north right now and I guess they're heading south."  
  
Sandry dusted off her dress and took the thread from Lark. She concentrated on it and it vanished. Then she rubbed her hands off and started off in the direction of the docks. "Any wharf rat would tell if he saw the children for the right price." The others followed behind her.  
  
Ten minutes later Sandry was talking with one of the dirtiest people that any of them, except for Lark, had ever seen. She smiled and handed him a gold coin before turning to the others. Her cornflower blue eyes were seething with rage. "They left yesterday afternoon aboard a boat called The Teal Lioness."  
  
Lark sighed and passed a hand over her eyes. But then she removed them and her eyes were twinkling. "I love traveling by sea," she said to Sandry. "And I'm sure Silver and Steel will love to feel a boat beneath their Trader feet."  
  
Steel and Silver looked at each other then flashed identical smiles at Lark, warm brown eyes delighted. "Of course we would love to be on a ship!" they said together.  
  
Nikan rolled his eyes and his face was a pale green. "Aunt Sandry is there any other way to follow them. Other then a ship?"  
  
Sandry gave him a wicked smile. "Sorry Nikan, you have to board the ship. Your father was always queasy around them as well." Then she started off to talk with the captain of a ship. When she came back Nikan looked as ill as the others looked excited.  
  
"So when do we leave?" Lark asked.  
  
Sandry sighed. "We leave in three hours. Aboard the Silver Wind. It's the fastest ship in port and can catch the Teal Lioness within a few days at least."  
  
((There's the last part on that group of people in this story. Read the next one to find out what happens with them and everyone else!))  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lissien grinned as she stood at the prow of the ship. Her thin braids whipped against her face as the salty wind sprayed her. "Come up here Tristan!" she called delightedly. "You'll love it!"  
  
Tristan glared at her sister and threw up over the rail. "Shut up Lissien," she said. "Let me get my sea-legs and I will have more fun then you, being so close to the water."  
  
Bronze laughed as he clambered over the ropes like a small monkey. He hung by his knees, dangling right in front of Tristan. "This was one of the best ideas ever!" he declared before scrambling off again as Tristan lunged for him.  
  
Copper was up in the crow's nest her dozens of beaded braids clicking as the wind whipped them. "This is almost as beautiful as stone is!" she called down to Lissien. "Almost but not quite."  
  
Kynara looked up at Lissien from where she sat. Her black cloak was drawn up and hid her face. "You mother will follow us," she said. "She will know the magic line is not what it seems."  
  
Lissien sighed. "Well if she follows us then we can make her not take us home. And let's not worry about that right now. Let's just worry about having fun!"  
  
((Ta-Daa! There's the end of this story. I'll continue on later of course. As soon as possible actually. Thanks to all of those who reviewed and gave me idea names (coolcatjenny). I hope you all will continue to review the next story when it comes out. The title is Children of the Four. Bye!)) 


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